


Doors

by Lightless_Firefly



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AUs galore, F/M, M/M, OC is a main character, Tony has a son, crossovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-05
Packaged: 2018-05-04 07:22:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5325530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightless_Firefly/pseuds/Lightless_Firefly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where had Eddy Stark been for these past 15 years.</p><p>When he returns home, battered and bruised; his father demands answers.</p><p>So how do you tell your father that you can turn doors into portals to other worlds?  And how do you tell him that you're not the same little boy you where when you left?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Where is Eddy?

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Further Characters, Relationships, and Fandoms will be posted as they appear in the story.
> 
> 2\. Eddy is named for Edwin Jarvis and Howard Stark.
> 
> 3\. Crossovers shall include DC Universe and AUs for the Marvel Universe.
> 
> 4\. Part if this story is about YOU. Please send in the fandoms and AUs that you would like to see within this story. We'll see Eddy visiting those worlds.

“After a week of intense searches throughout the woods of Northern Maine, the world is asking “Where is little Eddy Stark?”.  More on this coming up next.”

The screen momentarily went black before moving in to a news room where a pretty newscaster was looking into the camera.

“The world was caught by surprise a decade ago when Tony Stark and then girlfriend, Supermodel Amelia Hartley revealed that they were expecting a child.  Once the child, a boy to be named Edwin Howard Stark, was born; the media went into a frenzy trying to get pictures of the genius playboy’s son.  It wasn’t long after that when Miss Hartley dropped off of the radar to raise her child away from the limelight; a decision that both parents made for the boy’s benefit.  Just a few days ago, the terrible news was released.  While on vacation with his mother in Maine; the boy simply vanished.  He had been left alone in the cabin when his mother briefly went outside to start up a camp fire and when she returned, he was nowhere to be found.  Search efforts, led by Tony Stark himself have been searching everywhere for a week with no sign as to where the boy could have gone.  Police do not suspect foul play and it isn’t believed that the boy was abducted.  Which leaves the question, where is little Eddy Stark?  We can only hope that he makes it home safe.”

***  
It was fifteen years to the day.

Fifteen years ago, Tony Stark’s world was turned upside down.

After learning about Obadiah Stane betraying him; he had looked into seeing if the man had anything to do with his son’s disappearance but had turned up nothing.  He had even personally asked Phil Coulson to look in on it; but nothing ever turned up.

There hadn’t been the slightest of signs that anyone had been around to take his son.  There hadn’t been the slightest sign that the boy had even left the cabin.  There had been no tracks, and no scent for even the best tracking dogs to follow.

It was like Eddy had just vanished into thin air.

Which was why he got drunk every single year on this day.

He was already three sheets to the wind and moving on to his second bottle of Scotch when the alarms started sounding.  He put the bottle down and called one of the Iron Man gauntlets to him.  It took a few moments for his eyes to focus on the intruder, but when he did; he found himself falling to his knees, shaking his head.

“No.” He dragged out the word as he looked up at the apparition before him.  The intruder looked so much like his son.  Tony had done countless age progressions to see what his son might look like today, and though this man’s hair was ratty, and his clothes dirty and little more than rags, the face…and the eyes…were that of Eddy.

He smashed the bottle of Scotch by throwing it at the figure; who easily moved out of the way of the bottle, and continued moving closer.

“It’s okay.  I promise, it’s okay.  I’m home now.  I’m home.”

Tony shook his head. 

This was some sort of cruel joke.  He swore that he would kill whoever was playing this joke on him. 

If he had been sober, then he would have probably already fired his gauntlet at the man before him, but as it was, his arm just sort of waved slowly from side to side.  There was no way he would be able to focus enough to get off a shot.  He couldn’t think enough to do anything as the man moved closer before finally kneeling down in front of him; pain clear in his movements.

“I finally made it home, Dad.  I promise it’s me.”

Tony threw his arms out; wrapping them around the man before him.  His mind wasn’t with him at the moment.  He just wanted to believe that his boy had finally come home.  It would kill him in this moment to believe otherwise.

There was a small hiss as Tony tightened his hands around the man before him tighter.  He needed to know that the figure in his arms was real; solid. He pulled away when his bare hand became warm and wet.  In the dim light of the room, his fingers came back coated in blood.  The figure he was holding suddenly grew heavy against him as he went limp.

“Friday!  Call a medic!”


	2. Home

He looked so pale laying against the white sheets of the medical wing at Avengers HQ.  The small medical team kept on-hand at Stark Tower had rushed him to Headquarters after stabilizing him at the tower.  Once there, he had been cleaned up, and stitched up.  There had been a horrible gash in his side.  If it had been left much longer, then the man may have bled to death.  Pepper had remained back at the tower, working to clean up the blood on the floor.  He was thankful for that.  He couldn’t have her here if the DNA test came back positive.  He needed to be alone if that happened and he knew that Pepper would hover.

He held a cup of coffee in his hand as he looked in on the room through the window.

The nurse had just finished washing away the last of the caked on dirt from the man’s body.

The man…he couldn’t bring himself to call him ‘Eddy’ yet.

The coffee had helped him sober up; but his mind was now reeling with all of the possibilities.

If this man really was Eddy, then where had he been for the past fifteen years?  What had happened to him?

There was an interactive scan visible on the window, and he was viewing it now.  It was clear that several of the man’s bones had broken over the years, and healed.  Clearly he had medical attention during that time, because they had healed properly.  His body was littered with scars, including three long claw-like marks from his right shoulder and wrapping around to the front of his left hip.  The man’s body was toned, and mixing everything together, it seemed as if he had seen combat.

His finger touched the window, spinning the scan before looking up as an alert popped up.  He knew it was the DNA test results.  This would tell him if the man was Eddy.  He took a deep breath before pressing his finger against the window over top of the alert, causing the scans to minimize and the results to pop up.

The results were positive.  He took a deep breath before entering the room and snapping at the nurse who was fussing over the man in the bed.

“Out.  Now.”

She jumped at his sudden entrance and outburst before scurrying out of the room.  Tony set his coffee down and took the man’s…Eddy’s…hand into his own as he sat down beside him.

“What happened to you buddy?  Where’d you go.”

Tony sighed and got comfortable in his chair.  He had a feeling that he was going to be here like this for a long while.

***  
Tony was right.  It wasn’t until late the next morning when Eddy showed any signs of stirring.  When he did, it was with a groan, and then with eyes snapping open wide at the unfamiliar surroundings.

Eddy sat bolt upright and reached to the IV in the back of his hand, about to rip it out before his father stopped him in the sort of quick movement that he had only developed during hand to hand combat training with Cap.

“Stop.  You lost a lot of blood.  The IV is replenishing your fluids.”

Eddy squinted as he looked at his father, as if trying to bring him into focus.  Everything currently seemed blurry to the youngest Stark as he fought back exhaustion.

“Where am I?”  Eddy’s voice sounded small, and if Tony hadn’t been actively listening; then he wouldn’t have heard anything at all.

“Avengers HQ.  Medical wing.  The tower doesn’t have a full medical wing.  We have what equates to a nurse’s office.  Mostly it’s meant for stabilization before transport either here or to a hospital.”

“Avengers?”

Did Eddy really not know.

“It’s what we call ourselves.  Me and the others.  I’m Iron Man, and then there is Captain America, Black Widow, Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Winter Soldier, and War Machine.  War Machine is your uncle Rhodey.”

Eddy shifted a bit, resting his hand against his side and feeling the bandage there.  He had been lucky that he hadn’t pulled any stitches at his sudden outburst of movement.

“I guess I missed a lot.”

Tony took his son’s hand and squeezed it before bringing it up to his mouth and kissing the back of it.

“Where were you?  Who too you, Eddy?”

Eddy took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“No one took me, Dad.  I…I don’t really know what happened.  At least I didn’t at first.  I just opened a door and when I went through…I was somewhere else.”

Tony wasn’t really sure what Eddy meant by that. 

“That’s kind of what happens buddy.  You walk through a door and go from one room to another.”

Eddy rolled his eyes in annoyance.  “That’s not what I meant.  I was trying to go into the kitchen and instead I ended up in an empty building.  There was no one there and it was night outside.  It was some sort of old warehouse.  There were no warehouses anywhere near the cabin.  Dad, I opened some sort of portal from one place to another.  More than that, it was from one world to another.  The place where I ended up was completely different than this one.”

Tony shook his head.  Surely his son wasn’t serious about moving from their universe to another.  He stood and rested his hand on Eddy’s head, his fingers moving through his hair for a moment.

“Get some sleep Eddy.  We’ll discuss this once you’ve recovered.”

***  
Steve Rogers looked into the room where Eddy Stark slept.  He was curious as to where the boy had been for the past fifteen years.  Everyone was curious as to his whereabouts.  He looked away from the sleeping form towards the boy’s father as he exited the medical room.

“How are you doing, Tony.”

Tony brought his hands to his face and rubbed slowly before letting out a loud sigh and letting them drop.

“I’m not really sure.  I’m glad he’s home.  I had given up hope of ever seeing him again and now my son is finally home and that’s…amazing.  But he’s beat up, Cap.  Most of the major bones in his body have been broken at some point, and he’s covered in scars.  He looks like someone whose…”

“Been through hell?”

“Yea.  I think he may have been in a war.  I want you to talk to him at some point.  Maybe he’ll tell you something that he won’t tell me.  After all, you were his hero when he was growing up.”

Steve couldn’t stop the grin, but he hid it behind his hand.

“Really?”

“Yea.  You went from a small guy to saving the world from Hydra.  You gave him hope.  He used to be bullied a lot as a child.  He got into fights that he never actually won. History said the same about you.”

Tony rested a hand on Steve’s shoulder and squeezed.

“I’m going to head home and start preparing a room for him.  Can you call me if anything changes?”

Steve nodded.  “Of course.  And Tony, you should get some sleep too.”

Tony offered a sad smile. “You know me, Cap.  I don’t need much sleep.”  He let out a soft sigh before walking down the hall.  He had a lot to tell Pepper.  And then there was the press.  He had no doubts that this would eventually get out.  Better to be ahead of it than to let it break on his own.

Tony wasn’t sure he had ever been quite this tired.


	3. Alone

_The first thing that he notices when he walks through the door is that he’s not in the kitchen.  The second thing is the smell.  It’s stale and putrid, and it smells old urine and dead things.  He doesn’t notice much else at first because it’s dark and that makes it hard to see.  The door shuts behind him just as he’s about to go back through, and then it grows even darker; and he finds a deep dread filling him up.  He isn’t fond of the dark.  It isn’t the dark itself that bothers him, so much as the things that might be lurking in the dark of an unknown place.  Especially one that smells this badly.  This place smells like it could be a monster’s den._

_Tears well up in his eyes, and he’s too afraid to call out for his mother.  He’s too afraid to so much as move for a few minutes before he finally gets the courage.  If he’s going to be eaten by a monster, then it’s better to be eaten by one while trying to figure out where he was and how to get home, rather than to be eaten because he’s easy prey simply remaining in the same space._

_After a few steps, he smacks into something hard and reaches out to realize that it’s another door.  Once he opens it, there is suddenly light filtering in through dirty, broken windows.  He enters into a very large and empty space with discarded trash all around, and what looks to be old and soiled mattresses and bedding on the ground._

_He knows enough about the world that homeless people probably lived here.  He also knows that due to the smell, those who squatted here probably didn’t care much about where they used the bathroom.  The bedding no longer looks wet, but the smell is still coming off of it in waves._

_Eddy covers his nose and mouth to keep the smell out._

_He looks around, trying to figure out where exactly he is.  He doesn’t remember passing any warehouses on his way to the cabin with his mother; but then again, he had slept most of the way as well.  Even so, he shouldn’t have simply opened the door to the kitchen and ended up here.  That wasn’t possible._

_As he moves his way to the door that will lead him to fresh air, his foot crinkles an old newspaper.  Picking it up, he flattened it out and read the date.  He’s not really shocked that the paper is from several years previous.  What shocks him is the headline._

**_Nuclear Blast Rocks West Coast  
Millions Dead_ **

_This was impossible.  He had just visited his daddy in California a matter of weeks ago.  There was no way that a nuclear blast could have destroyed the West Coast the three years previous as stated on the paper._

_But it was The New York Times._

_Could it be a prop?_

_Dread ran through his veins like ice._

***  
The light hurt his eyes when he tried to open them.  He hissed as it burned into them, but felt it dim behind his eyelids as he slowly sat up.  The next time he opened his eyes, it wasn’t as bright in the room.  The man in the corner had used a dimmer to take care of it.

The man was tall, and muscular.  Eddy almost felt that he looked familiar; as if he had seen him before.  The man was also typing something into his cell phone.  It wasn’t until he faced Eddy fully that it clicked in his brain.  The man before him was Captain America.  He had grown up with a poster of the soldier on his wall.  It had been made from one of the photos that his grandfather had.  It was one of a kind.

But Captain America had died, and this was confusing to Eddy.  Had he ended up in the wrong world?  He had thought that all of his calculations had told him that he had entered the right doorway.

“I’m glad you’re awake.  I’ve just sent a message to your father to let him know.  He’s back at the tower, setting up a room for you.”

The Captain moved closer to Eddy, who watched him with calculating eyes.

“Aren’t you supposed to be dead?  Or old at least?”

The Captain gave a sheepish smile.  “I was frozen in ice.  It preserved my body.  Kept me from aging or dying.  SHIELD found me a few years back.  They thawed me and I met your father shortly after.  That’s when we became The Avengers.”

Eddy still wasn’t quite sure what that was.

“What are The Avengers.”

Steve moved to sit down in the chair next to the youngest Stark before thinking on how to explain it.

“Well, your dad calls us ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’.  We work together to take down the threats that no hero can take down alone.  Back when it started, we stopped a god named Loki who had an alien army.  And just a few months ago…well…uh…”  How was he supposed to tell the kid that his father had created a monstrous robot that tried to destroy the planet.  “There was a robot named Ultron.  He wanted to destroy Earth.  He made a small country float into the sky and was going to drop it, turning it into a meteor to cause a mass extinction event.  We couldn’t save the country, but we saved the people on it before they could fall.  We stopped Ultron.”

Eddy nodded.

“So like the Justice League.”

“Who?”  Steve had never heard about the Justice League.

Eddy smiled softly.  “Don’t worry.  It doesn’t matter.”  Not anymore.  He doubted he would ever see any of them again.

Steve stood up when Tony opened the door.

“I’ll leave the two of you to get reacquainted with one another. Welcome home Eddy.”

***  
_Once he’s outside, he can’t help but notice how quiet it is._

_There are heaps of garbage overflowing from the trash bins and the smell is putrid, but the breeze makes it easier to breathe than it had been in the warehouse._

_Once he gets to the streets, he notices that cars are left abandoned.  Some of them have suitcases left abandoned, and there are a couple where skeletons remained seated as if waiting for their journey to continue._

_Despite the warmth of the day, he feels incredibly cold._

_And hungry._

_He knew he needed to find something to eat.  The shows that he sometimes watched with his mother made several things clear if you were ever caught out in the wild.  You needed shelter, fire, water, and food.  The abandoned city seemed like it was nearly the same as the wild would be.  While it would be easy to find shelter, it wouldn’t be easy to find food or water.  All the disaster movies he had watched had shown that people would go for those supplies first.  After three years, he would be lucky if he could find a few cans of beans and a bottle or two of water._

_A glance up at the sky proved that night would be coming in a matter of hours.  He needed to find a safe place to hunker down for the night.  If there was any chance of him finding his way home; he would need to survive until morning._

***  
“Who took you Eddy?”

So they were back to this again?  The youngest Stark took a deep breath and let it out in a slow sigh.

“I already told you Dad.  No one took me.”

“I know what you said, but this whole idea of doorways opening to other worlds is just kind of ridiculous, don’t you think?”

“I used to.  But experience has proven otherwise.”  He watched his father for several moments before he began to talk again, using the small amount of information that he had gathered from Steve Rogers.  “You fought aliens and a god.  You work with a man who was frozen in ice for over sixty years.  You fought a murderous robot.  This really shouldn’t be too much of a stretch.  We used to talk about the what if’s together.  Remember?”

Tony nodded.  “I would ask a question changing a detail of something that had happened in history and you would come up with what the present day would be.”

Eddy nodded.  “Now, imagine that each change is possible, and that with each change and outcome you have infinite more choices that can be made by any number of people.  They can create small changes or large ones.  Sometimes you wouldn’t even be able to tell that there is any difference.  Each choice leads to a new reality.  Given the number of choices each person faces in their life and the number of people who have lived throughout history, there is an infinite number of possibilities and an infinite number of realities.  Some seem the same, and some are so different that they could be considered a completely different universe all on their own.  Somehow, I opened a door and it led to one of those possible worlds.  And then I opened another and another and another and each time there was something different.  Sometimes things seemed almost the same.  Sometimes things are so different that I couldn’t recognize anything.”

He scratched at the back of his head.  How could he make his father believe him?  He knew how to open doors now.  He knew how to control them.  He could revisit ones that he had already been too.  It was like a physical sensation in his brain.  It was like muscle memory for each world.

He slipped carefully from the bed.  His side ached; but he had dealt with worse damage before.  His body told that story in the map of scars across his skin.  He carefully walked over to the door with stiff legs and rested his hand upon the handle.  He felt his hand grow warm and knew that the door wouldn’t reveal the hallway of Avengers HQ when he opened it, even though the window to his room would still show the hall.

Eddy swung the door open, revealing a vast open field.  The sky was dark, and rain was pouring down, bring in the scent of spring on the wind that blew towards them.  In the distance, thunder rumbled and lightning arced across the sky.

“Do you believe me now?”

“Fuck.”

***  
_He had found a grocery store.  Three years had done wonders for the scent that would have been coming from the produce, deli, and frozen food sections.  Instead of the scent of purification, the scent of mold hung in the air.  He brought his shirt up over his nose to protect against inhaling as much of it as he could._

_He wandered through the aisles, looking for anything that might be edible still._

_A dented can of baked beans was the only thing that he could find, and he eagerly pulled the tab to open it and started slurping up the contents.  He didn’t care that he was making a mess.  He was hungry, and scared, and alone.  A ten-year-old should never be left on their own.  He missed his mother.  He wanted nothing more than to see her again._

_Tears slipped down Eddy’s cheeks after he finished his food.  He couldn’t stop them from falling.  He dropped the can, ignoring it as it rolled away in favor of trying to brush the tears from his eyes.  He shouldn’t cry.  He needed to be strong now.  Falling apart would only be detrimental to his survival._

_The sound of the can being kicked back towards him was enough to snap him from his sorrow.  He turned quickly, his eyes focusing on the barrel of the gun pointed at his head._


	4. The Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize I've never actually given a description of Eddy. So basically, it's Tyler Hoechlin. That's what Eddy looks like. From 'Road to Perdition', all the way up to 'Teen Wolf'.

Water dripped from Tony’s outstretched fingertips as he stood out in the rain.  Eddy had said that the door hadn’t led to another world.  He didn’t want to risk getting lost away from home again while he was recovering.  But they had gone from New York state all the way to a quiet stretch of Scotland.  The door that his son had opened was connected to an old, derelict cottage that was little more than four walls and a door.  The roof had seemingly caved in a long time ago; and yet through the doorway was the hospital room where his son stood, leaning against his IV pole.

Tony ran his fingers through soaked hair before finally deciding that it was time to get out of the rain.  Eddy was handing him a towel once he was back inside, and shutting the door behind him with a small click.  He removed his shirt and moved over to the sink that resided in the room, before wringing it out.  He would have to change.  He looked as if he had taken a dip rather than simply gone to stand in the rain for a few moments.

“Okay, so say I believe you.  Where have you been then?  Where did you get your scars and broken bones?  Eddy…”  His whole demeanor softened as he spoke his son’s name.  “What happened to you?”

Eddy had been thinking of how to explain it for years.  At times he had thought that it would be a good idea to write it all down as he went, and he had even started; but the journal had been lost in one of the worlds when he had been running for his life.

“It’s a long story and it’ll take some time to tell it.  It does span fifteen years as well.”

“I got time.”

The call sounded over the intercom, the voice clearly that of Steve Rogers, but with the authority that came only when he was playing the part of Captain America.

**“Avengers.  Assemble!”**

“No dad, I really don’t think you do.  Go.  We’ll talk when you get back.”

Tony nodded and hesitated with his hand on the door handle.  He quickly turned back and wrapped his son up in a hug before leaving without a word.  He refused to say goodbye, because the last time he had said it his son had disappeared.

***  
_A small whimper fell from Eddy’s lips as he watched the gun that had been leveled on him.  It was held by a man who had just left his boy years behind.  The man was dirty, but not as filthy as might be expected.  The young boy closed his eyes tightly and secretly prayed that he would get out of this alive.  He didn’t want to die.  He wanted to go home and see his parents again.  He wanted to grow up and work at his father’s company.  He wanted to fall in love and become a parent.  There was so much that he hadn’t gotten a chance to do._

_“Gil, put the gun down.  You’re scaring the boy.”_

_There was a small click as the man put the gun away, and Eddy carefully opened one eye to look out at what was going on around him.  The man, Gil, had put away his gun at the words of an older man who looked to be a bit older than his own father.  The man had dirty grey hair and was dressed in military style clothes, with a gun holstered at his hip._

_“Where’s your group, kid?”_

_“Just me.”_

_“You mean to tell me that a boy such as yourself is all alone?”_

_Eddy nodded and looked away.  He wasn’t about to tell what had happened.  He was still trying to figure that part out himself.  It was strange that his IQ could be so high, but that he couldn’t understand what had gotten him here.  Maybe it was the shock.  Maybe it would come to him later._

_“Boss, you can’t be thinking…”_

_“Shut up, Gil.”_

_“He’s not Mikey”_

_“How would you like to come with us, boy?  We got food, water, and shelter.  You’ll be safe with us.”_

_Eddy needed to think this through.  If he said no, then he might die here alone.  Or these people might just kill him.  He had seen movies about places like this where people ate one another.  If he joined them, then maybe he wouldn’t be eaten.  He turned things over in his mind for several moments before finally speaking._

_“Eddy.  My name is Eddy.  And…I…okay.  But if you try to eat me, you’ll be sorry.”_

_The man who had only been referred to as ‘Boss’ began laughing._

_“Well Eddy, I don’t think the gang is that far gone.  We may not always seem like it, but we do still have our humanity.  Besides, I doubt there’s much meat on your bones.  Skinning you would be more trouble than your worth.”_

_***  
_ It was another day before Eddy was out of the hospital wing.  The stitches had been removed in favor of healing him up with some sort of cradle that grafted new skin onto his injury.  The muscle underneath still ached, but at least he wasn’t constantly pulling at the sutures.

When his father had returned from whatever battle he had been called away to (apparently it was ‘need to know’ only and Eddy didn’t need to know), he had been too tired to talk.  Now it was mid-afternoon and Eddy knew that his father was awake and looking for him.  The new AI, FRIDAY, had told him as much.  He stood out on the landing pad attached to his father’s penthouse at the Tower and simply looked out at the city.  The steaming cup of coffee in his hands was almost enough to push back the bite of cold from the wind.

“You’re still recovering.  You should be inside.”

Eddy tilted his head back so that he could see his father.  There was a nasty bruise on his face.  He knew from personal experience how much that kind of injury sucked.  Actually, all injuries sucked.

He took a small sip of his coffee before turning back towards the building and heading towards his father.

“Just trying to get a bit of fresh air before the inevitable.  I don’t think we'll be getting outside much once I start my story.”

“About that.  I talked to some of the team, and if you don’t mind…they want to hear it to.  So maybe they could come up to listen?  Or maybe I could record it if you’re not comfortable with that?”

Eddy took in a deep breath through his nose.  He hadn’t expected this.  But it wasn’t like it would be the first time he told his story in front of a bunch of heroes.  He had done it a few times before.  But this time…it would be more in depth, because this time it was for his father.

“Sure.  But lunch first.  I’m starving.”

***  
He hadn’t felt quite this nervous in a long time.  There were more people in the room than he had expected.

There were obviously the Avengers, which consisted of his father, and uncle Rhodey, as well as Steve Rogers.  The other members of the group included Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Wanda Maximoff, and an android that sounded much like JARVIS and went by the name of Vision.  There was also Pepper Potts, who was currently dating his father, and a woman named Maria Hill.

He was just about to start speaking when a man around his age with white hair walked in.

“Damn Speedy, you couldn’t actually get here on time?”

The man that Clint had chastised simply gave a smirk and held up his cup of Starbucks coffee.

“I was just imitating you.”

His father snorted and muttered something about showing up late with Starbucks before deciding to introduce the newcomer.

“Eddy, this is Pietro Maximoff.  He’s Wanda’s brother, and our resident speedster.”

Eddy looked the man up and down before shrugging.

“Got a feeling I’ve seen faster.”

In a flash, Pietro was standing right in front of him.

“Oh really?”

“I met the fastest man alive.”

“You are looking at him.”

“To him, you’d be moving in slow motion.”

“Boys!” Eddy’s eyes grew wide at his father’s reprimand.  He had the decency to blush before looking away and clearing his throat.

“Right.  So, now that we’re all here I suppose I should begin.”

Pietro sat down beside his sister and took a sip of his coffee while Eddy scratched the back of his head, trying to think of how to start.

“I was ten when my ability manifested, and when it did; I thought I would never get home.”

***

_“Like this?”_

_Eddy held the bow in his left hand and pulled back the string with his right.  He needed to start carrying his own weight in their group, and that meant he needed to learn how to hunt.  The guns and limited supply of bullets were used against other people who might try and steal their supplies or kill them._

_The group that had taken him in was part of a walled in community with about one hundred men, women, and children.  The leader of the group was often called ‘Boss’ by everyone, but his name was really Gabriel.  Gabe had taken him in and started treating him like a son.  The whispers that Eddy picked up from the other members of the community told him that Gabe had recently lost his son Michel to illness over the winter.  The chill was still in the air, and the ashes of Mikey’s body had barely had time to cool.  The other members of the community were worried about Gabe, and the fact that he had already taken in an unknown child and was seemingly using him to replace his own lost son._

_Eddy usually tried to keep all of that from his mind though.  It was best not to think about it unless is started to prove to be a real problem._

_“Pull your hand back a bit more.  You need to anchor your hand to your chin.”_

_Eddy pulled back a bit more, but his fingers strained against the tension of the string and slipped, causing it to snap forward and whack the wrist of his other hand hard.  He dropped the bow and held his wrist, rubbing at the welt that had formed._

_Gabe laughed softly and rested a hand on Eddy’s shoulder._

_“Looks like you need to get a bit stronger before that.  Go meet Kara in the fields.  Help her and the farmers prepare the ground for planting.  That should put some muscle on your bones.”_

_***  
His entire body ached as he fell onto his bed.  He had been working in the fields for two weeks now, working to prepare the ground for the seeds that would provide crops for their community to eat.  His hands were covered in blisters that Kara had informed him would eventually turn into calluses.  His eyes fluttered closed.  He wanted nothing more than to take a nap, or just sleep through the night._

_It was already beginning to get dark outside when Gabe entered the room._

_“Get up kid.  You can’t head to bed without food.”_

_Eddy turned his head to look at Gabe and groaned, which only caused the man to laugh._

_“Come on.  Up and at ‘em.  I’ll let you crash once you got food in your belly.”_

_***  
_ “So you’ve been to multiple worlds?”  Rhodey felt his stress rising.  He was Eddy’s godfather, and to know that his nephew had ended up in worlds that could have been filled with only the Lord knew what sorts of monsters…it made him sick just thinking about it.

“Yes.  I have.  And they were all very different from this one.  At least the ones I spent more than a few days in were.”

“And in these worlds, you ended up with broken bones and scars?”

A small smile pulled at the corner of his mouth.  “Of course.  After all, I was a lot like all of you.  I may not have any powers other than opening doorways, but I was placed in unique positions in these worlds.  I couldn’t just stand by and let the world go to hell when I could do something about it.  I’ve been training since I was eleven, and fighting since I was twelve.”

Tony felt like he was going to be sick.

“Really though, I think the worst was probably the first time I killed.”

Several faces in the room turned pale and Eddy realized just how it must have sounded.

“Oh!  No!  It’s not what you think.”  Of course he had taken a human life before.  But it had just been the one.  And this wasn’t what he was talking about now. “The first world I was dropped into was post-apocalyptic.  Food was scarce.  You couldn’t just go to a market and buy it.  You had to grow it and hunt it.  The first life I took was that of a wild boar.  That was also when I got my first scar.”

***  
_The dogs were going wild.  He could barely hear the squeals of the boar over their barking._

_“Don’t shoot the dogs.”_

_“I know!”_

_He brought up the bow and nocked the arrow before letting it fly.  It sunk deep into the side of the boar’s chest, and the boar went down._

_He pulled out his knife and began running forward.  He let out a whoop when he came to the boar._

_“I got him!”_

_He was just about to pull out some rope to string up the boar when it’s eyes snapped open and it attacked.  He cried out as it’s tusk ripped into his arm, but lunged out with his knife, stabbing it several times in the neck._

_His heart was pounding by the time Gabe got to him and began patching up his arm._

_“Head back to town and go see Doc.  He’ll patch you up.  I’ll bring in the boar.”_

_Tears were welled up in Eddy’s eyes but he kept them from falling._

_“You did good kid.  Just don’t expect it to be dead next time.  Be cautious and you’ll be fine.”_

***

Eddy held up his arm to reveal the scar.  It’s small.  It’s had fifteen years to heal and it hadn’t been too bad to begin with.

He hoped he wouldn’t have to explain where he had gotten each of his scars though.  That would suck.  He wasn’t even sure how he had gotten all of them.  Sometimes they all blended in his mind.

“You killed a boar.”

“The community held one hundred people.  If the growing season was good, we could make enough food for that many, but not enough meat.  There was plenty of foraging and hunting going on.  Of course, I only killed two deer after that.  It turned out I had a better green thumb than aim.”

***  
_Most families had their own garden.  Sure, the fields supplied corn, cabbage, and potatoes; but if people wanted more than that, then they had to plant it themselves._

_It turned out that Eddy was a good little gardener.  He had the reddest, best tasting tomatoes and the zucchini were growing large.  The cucumbers were large as well and the watermelons were massive._

_He brought a knife down into one of the watermelons and handed out pieces to the other children in the community.  He made sure that they saved the seeds so that they could be planted later._

_He knew that the time of plenty wouldn’t last for long though.  He had already started canning tomatoes so that they would be available for the winter, and Gabe had started dehydrating meats so that they would last through the cold._

_He was worried about what might happen during the winter.  The community always lost people to the cold._

_***  
_ “What happened in the winter, Eddy?”  Steve knew how bad the cold could be on someone’s health.  Especially with a lack of medical care and medicine.  By the look on Eddy’s face, Steve could gather that it wasn’t good what had happened.

“I don’t remember much…I just know that I would have died if I hadn’t accidently opened another door.”

***  
_He was sick._

_There was an illness going through the community.  One of the younger children had already died from the fever.  The child had been the first born after the bombs had been dropped.  It wasn’t a good sign.  And now Eddy was sick too._

_He had tried to hide it at first, but he had collapsed one day while trying to bring in fire wood._

_After that, most of his memories consisted of flashes of whispered voices and frightening hallucinations._

_And then he saw his mother.  He had been weak, but it hadn’t stopped him from getting out of bed and crawling his way over to her.  He tried to cry out when he watched her walk through the door and close it behind him.  He crawled towards the door and opened it slowly before crawling through it and losing consciousness once he found himself on the other side._

***  
“What was on the other side of the door?”  Clint leaned forward, watching the boy with curious eyes.

Eddy’s face looked pained.

“Hell.  A world where Hydra ruled.  I just…didn’t know it was hell at first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is only going to be one more chapter like this where there is very little going on in the present except for Eddy's story. After that, the chapters will have current time action mixed with flashbacks.


	5. Hydra

“At first I had no idea that there was anything wrong.”

“How could you not know something was wrong?”  The captain couldn’t understand how anyone could be in a world where Hydra ruled and not realize just how wrong things were.

“I arrived when I was incredibly sick.  I had a high fever and was hallucinating.  I didn’t know that I had found my way into Hydra’s DC based Head Quarters.  I didn’t know that the man who had just saved my life and was doting on me was a murderer.  All I knew as I was recovering was that Grant Ward was kind and that he genuinely wanted to see me recover from my illness.”

***

_“I need a medic!  Now!”_

_Eddy didn’t realize that the floating feeling came from being carried by a muscular man.  He didn’t realize that he had even been found and he had no idea where he was.  All he knew was that the man carrying him wasn’t Gabe or Gil._

_He groaned as nausea built up inside of him and turned his head to the side, puking on the floor at the medic’s feet._

_The next thing he knew, there was something shining in his face and rushed, muffled voices.  And then he passed out again._

_When he woke up next, he had bags of ice placed around him and the man who had been carrying him earlier was standing in the corner with fist up towards his mouth as he watched on with concern.  His eyes traveled to the left to see his mother standing there, and he smiled._

_“Mommy?”_

_He only ever called her that still when he wasn’t feeling well._

_“No sweetie.  I’m Doctor Hart.  You’re very sick and I’m gonna make you better.  Try and get some sleep.”_

_Eddy nodded and closed his eyes, falling back asleep; only to be tormented by nightmares._

_***  
_ Natasha was rigid at the mention of Grant Ward.  Clint didn’t look much better.  At their obvious knowledge of the man, Tony decided to speak.

“Who is Grant Ward?”

“Well, there is no real telling who he was in the world your son visited, but here he is a traitor.  He was one of the Hydra members who had infiltrated SHIELD.  Rumor is that he’s still working for Hydra’s cause.”

Tony turned to look at his son with wide eyes.  “And this guy took care of you?”

“He saw a child who was sick and in need of help.  The thing about Grant Ward, is that he thinks that he’s a hero even though he’s sorely mistaken.  Then again, every villain sees themselves as the hero of their own story.”  Eddy looked away from everyone and moved to stand before the glass windows that looked out over the landing pad.  He took in a deep breath before continuing his story.

“Grant knew that I wasn’t exactly normal.  He had seen me enter Hydra HQ through a locked door.  He was there when I passed out.  Later he checked surveillance and saw that I had just materialized out of thin air.  Hydra was very much doing experiments on people with abilities at that point, but even though he knew I was one of those people…he never spoke a word of it to anyone.  He took me in.  He wanted me to see him as a big brother, and for a while, I did.”

***  
_“You should still be resting, Eddy.”_

_“I’m fine, Grant.”_

_“Really?  Because you still haven’t been able to finish any of your meals.”_

_“I’m eleven.  And you keep putting enough for an adult in front of me.  My stomach can’t hold that much!”_

_“Touché.  Fine.  You can come.  But stick close to me, okay?”_

_Eddy nodded and hopped up, shoving on his shoes and following after Grant down the halls of HQ.  It wasn’t easy to keep up with Grant.  The man’s legs were a lot longer and he had to run to stay close to him.  They continued through hall after hall before coming to a door that led to a shooting gallery.  Grant entered and handed Eddy a pair of earmuffs to block out some of the sound from the guns.  He then set up a target and set up his gun before beginning his practice.  Eddy watched closely, eyes wide as he watched the close grouping that Grant put into the paper target._

_And then Grant did what Eddy didn’t think he would ever do.  He handed over the gun and set up a target for him to practice on._

_“Hold it like this…good.  Now only put your finger on the trigger when you’re ready to shoot.  Good.  Now, shoot.”_

_Eddy pulled back the trigger and was a bit shocked by the kickback.  He was ready for it next time.  While he didn’t have a grouping, he didn’t miss the target.  His practice with archery saw to it that he always hit the figure of the target._

_“Well kid, you’re a natural.”_

_***  
Eddy grunted as he was brought down on the mat again._

_The children of the various Hydra members were part of a program to teach them to follow in their parent’s footsteps.  A fifteen-year-old boy took pleasure in constantly taking Eddy down to the mat.  It made him angry.  The boy kept playing dirty._

_He moved off of the mat and was about to storm out of the room when Grant stopped him._

_“Where do you think you’re going.”_

_“He’s not fighting fair.”_

_“Of course he’s not.  In a real fight, you can never expect your opponent to fight fair.  When it comes to life and death, there is no fair.  Take him down Eddy.  I know you can.  Now get your butt back in there or no ice cream after dinner tonight.”_

_“You can’t bribe me with ice cream like I’m a baby.”_

_“Fine, then I won’t let you visit the R &D department and you can’t geek out with the scientists.”_

_Eddy grumbled before turning back towards the older boy.  In a few more minutes, the other boy was on the ground, crying as he held his broken hand._

_***  
“Happy Birthday Eddy!”_

_Eddy had been shocked when the cake was placed in front of him with twelve candles spread out over the top.  Eddy blew them out and smiled when Grant placed a present in front of him._

_“Open it up.”_

_He ripped open the paper to reveal a plain black case.  Inside was a gun and a packet of bullets.  He smiled brightly and jumped up to hug Grant._

_“Thank you!  I love it!”_

_He found that he enjoyed shooting.  He had gotten damn good at it too.  His grouping had gotten tight and he was further ahead in it than the other children were.  He frowned suddenly when Grant messed up his hair._

_“Soon you’ll be a junior agent.  You’ll be damn good at it, kid.”_

_***  
His father was dead in this world._

_A lot of people were dead in this world._

_He had finally been allowed to leave HQ with Grant, and that was when he discovered the truth about Hydra.  They were bad.  A couple of years before, they had been hidden within a group called SHIELD.  They had his father create them three giant flying aircraft carriers that were set up with heavy artillery.  There was a program in the computers that had been placed there by Hydra that picked out anyone who would be a threat to Hydra’s plans, and killed them._

_He had run._

_He had taken his gun, and he had run.  He needed to get away from Grant Ward.  He needed to get away from Hydra.  He needed to do something.  He couldn’t just stay in a place where evil had won._

_He turned his head to make sure he wasn’t being followed and ran directly into something solid.  He brought up his gun to point it the man that he had crashed into._

_Blue eyes looked out from behind dirty brown hair and a metal arm held a gun pointed at him._

_“Put your gun down, Kid.”_

_“You first.”_

_The man smirked._

_“What you running from?”_

_“Hydra.  You?”_

_“Who says I’m running?”_

_“You have a gun, and look like you haven’t slept in a month.  You’re running.”_

_“Smart kid.  Same.  Hydra.”_

_Their guns went down at the same time, and man’s flesh hand came down to help the boy up._

_“I’m Bucky Barnes.  You?”_

_“Eddy Stark.”_

_There was a momentary flash of sadness across Bucky’s face at the mention of his last name._

_“Let’s go Kid.  It’s not a good idea to stay out in the open.  Eyes everywhere.”_

***  
“You met Bucky?”

Eddy had sat down now.  There was still so much of his story left to tell.  They would probably have to continue at a later date.  He was getting exhausted.  He could at least finish this story first though.

“I did.  He took me in and protected me after I fled Grant Ward.”

“What happened to me?” 

Eddy hadn’t wanted to mention this part.  It was the last thing he wanted to have to say.

“You lost.  You lost, and you became Hydra’s play thing.”

***  
_“No.”_

_“The world needs someone to rally behind.”_

_“No.”_

_“You’re already the leader of the resistance.”_

_“No.”_

_Yes!  You need to take on the mantel.  Captain America gives people hope.”_

_“Steve is Captain America.  Not me.”_

_“That’s just it.  Captain America is an idea, not a person.  He’s the idea that gives hope to the hopeless.  He’s the idea that makes people stand up despite their fear.  The world needs Captain America, and if Steve Rogers would want anyone to take over after him, it would be his best friend.”_

_Bucky growled in annoyance and looked away._

_“No.”_

_***  
“I can’t believe I’m doing this.”_

_He was dressed in the star and stripes and held his friend’s shield as he looked at himself in the mirror.  Eddy came to stand up beside him dressed much like how Bucky himself had dressed while a Howling Commando, the only difference was the domino mask that he wore._

_He even had the sniper riffle slung over his shoulder.  He gave a thumbs up to Bucky who groaned._

_“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”_

_***  
Their numbers were raising._

_Having Captain America and his sidekick Bucky back had brought hope to the hopeless as Eddy had said it would.  Heroes were coming out of the woodwork and taking the fight to Hydra._

_Eddy was getting better at fighting every day.  He had learned to use his small size and speed to his advantage against larger opponents.  He would line ‘em up, and Cap would knock ‘em down._

_He had become a sniper, watching over Cap from the rooftops and taking down Hydra agents with specialized ammunition made to knock them out for a few hours.  Cap didn’t want a twelve-year-old to kill, and he followed that order closely, even though he kept the gun that Grant Ward had given him close by his side._

_***  
_ “He…took up the mantle?”

“He was amazing.  He was like an avenging angel.  He was a man on a mission to bring freedom back to the world.  But…I don’t know what happened to him in the end.”

***  
_Steve Rogers wasn’t dead as everyone had expected.  Hydra had taken him in and brainwashed him.  They had made him the new Winter Soldier and Grant Ward had become his handler._

_“Kill him.”_

_The Winter Soldier grunted in reply and began attacking Captain America.  Eddy had no way of knowing that this scene was the reverse of what had happened just a matter of years ago._

_“No!”_

_Cap wasn’t fighting back.  Why wasn’t he fighting back?_

_He was thrown back by the Winter Soldier as he tried to pull him off of his Captain, only to be picked up by Grant Ward._

_“Let it happen, Kid.”  His domino mask was ripped off by Ward who scowled down at him.  “You’ve been a very bad boy.  I’m going to have to punish you when we get home.  You’ve been a very bad little brother.”_

_Eddy used a move that he had learned from Cap and broke away from Ward before pulling the gun he had received from the man for his birthday._

_“No.  This is wrong.  Hydra is wrong.”_

_“You’re not going to shoot me, Eddy.  You’re too soft.  We’ll fix that.  Soon you’ll be an obedient little soldier just like Rogers.”_

_He didn’t even realize that he had pulled the trigger until Ward hit the ground.  The sound echoed through the warehouse._

_“Bucky!”_

_Eddy turned to see Cap looking at him with wide eyes.  He looked down at the gun in his hands and dropped it before watching Cap finally begin to fight back against the Winter Soldier instead of just blocking his hits with his bionic arm._

_Cap turned back towards the Winter Soldier._

_“Steve.  You need to remember who you are.  ‘Til the end of the line, remember?  You broke their control on me.  I know you’re stronger than them.”_

_“You. Are. My. Mission.”_

_Eddy shook his head before lunging forward and trying to tackle the Winter Soldier, only to be thrown backwards hard enough to be tossed through the closed door on the other side of the room, and out into the rain of another world._

_***  
_ “I don’t know who won the fight.  I don’t know if Bucky survived or if that world’s Steve was able to break through his programing.  I don’t know if Hydra fell or if they squashed the resistance.  No matter how hard I tried, I could never find the doorway back.”

Eddy cleared his throat.  He didn’t want to think about the loss that came with that world.  He had really looked up to Bucky.

Steve stood and made his way over to Eddy, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“Thank you.  For being there for him.  Thank you.”

Eddy nodded before resting his own hand on Steve’s shoulder.

“You’ll find him, Cap.  If you need my help, just ask.  I’m on your side here.  Bucky deserves a second chance.”

Steve’s expression softened and he squeezed Eddy’s shoulder a bit harder.  Once he sat back down, Eddy looked back out over the group.

“It’s late and I’m exhausted.  Can we continue this later?”

Tony nodded.  “Go get some rest, Ed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you get confused towards the end, Cap is actually Bucky Barnes and 'Bucky' is the new nickname for Eddy. They are Captain America and Bucky. But they are Bucky and Eddy. Get it?

**Author's Note:**

> Interaction time! Feel free to suggest worlds for Eddy to have visited.


End file.
